Healthcare & Laboratory News

Reuters (9/26, Miridzhanian) reports, “Over $800 million has been pledged to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention for its fight against a surging mpox outbreak on the continent, the agency’s head said on Thursday, adding that the amount was higher than expected.” Africa CDC Director General Jean Kaseya “told reporters the agency received pledges for $814 million aimed at supporting its response plan.” According to Reuters, “with the consideration of additional support, that number would increase to around $1 billion.” A large “part of this funding will come from the US, which will be providing $500 million and 1 million vaccine doses to the response plan, he said.”

Infectious Disease Advisor (9/26, Chan) reports research found that “fewer than half of hepatitis C virus (HCV)-exposed children were tested for HCV, with lower testing rates among Black, Asian/Pacific Islander, and Hispanic/Latinx children.” Study results indicate that “a larger proportion of those tested with RNA vs antibody testing only were Black and Hispanic/Latinx.” The findings were published in the Journal of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society.

The Washington Post (9/26, Nirappil) reports, “Americans can again order free rapid coronavirus tests by mail, the Biden administration announced Thursday.” Americans “can request four free at-home tests per household through covidtests.gov.” The tests “will begin shipping Monday.” The New York Times (9/26, Blum) reports, “People can also get tests by calling 1-800-232-0233.” The FDA “estimates that at-home tests will detect the virus at least 80 percent of the time when someone is infected.”

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Infectious Disease Advisor (9/26, McSwiggin) reports, “Coverage with human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine among adolescent girls in the United States-affiliated Pacific Islands (USAPI) is on track to meet 2030 goals in 2 jurisdictions; however, disparities in vaccination coverage still need to be addressed, according to study results.” The researchers said, “Implementing evidence-based strategies to increase vaccine access and coverage would benefit jurisdictions with lagging coverage.” The findings were published in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

MedPage Today (9/25, Kahn) reports, “An investigational oral antiviral drug eased bronchiolitis and was safe for children 2 years and younger hospitalized with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection, according to a phase III trial in China.” Researchers found that “from baseline to day 3, the RSV F protein inhibitor ziresovir resulted in a 30% greater decrease in the Wang bronchiolitis clinical score compared with placebo.” Study results indicate that “the proportion of children with a reduction of at least 75% on the 0-12 scale at day 3 also favored the ziresovir group.” The findings were published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Healio (9/25, Carter) reports, “COVID-19 test acceptance was low among adults on hemodialysis, according to a nationwide cluster trial that evaluated two SARS-CoV-2 assessment strategies at U.S. dialysis facilities.” In the study, “12,553 SARS-CoV-2 tests were offered to compare a static strategy of tests every 2 weeks to a dynamic approach, varying from weekly to monthly, with frequency tied to community COVID-19 infection prevalence.” Researchers found that “in both testing strategies, the test acceptance rate was 8%.” The findings were published in JAMA Network Open.